Search

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the forum FAQ and the House Rules and Forum Guidelines.
You will have to register before you can post. If you find your registration is rejected, please try again using a different username. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Re: 60 to One

Update 19Years: 1, Months: 19, Days: 573

The year 2010 has dawned, yet the report starts badly for one manager who hoped to see in the new year at his club in Spain. He has been on the edge for several months now, ever since relegating his side last year, and Saul Goode was finally dismissed ten days into the month. A home win against Córdoba was not matched in the next match, where Osasuna lost 0-2 to Real Unión. With his side lying seventh in the table, six places below the predicted position at the start of the season, he got his marching orders. The other managers in trouble are Clark Aitken, whose Roma team do not look to repeat last year’s feat of the Serie A title, and Super Lampard at Lecce. For Aitken, the dream of a title this year is slim as his team lie 13 points behind Serie A leaders Juventus. This month was extremely poor save for some sort of recovery at the end: losses to Tyler Burrows’s Udinese, who are fourth, to Juventus and to Genoa sandwiched a lame home draw against Lampard’s team. Bologna were then beaten 2-0, before a tricky win was grafted at home to A.C. Milan. Super Lampard actually had a decent month, including that 2-2 Roma draw, achieving the same scoreline against Catania and drawing with A.C. Milan. And a 4-0 away win over bermybhoy’s Atalanta should appease fans despite the month’s two losses.

Of course this month saw the reopening of the transfer window, and the most important transfer was that of Cameroonian Samuel Eto’o, who swapped the Nou Camp for the San Siro while Ben Cee swapped £14.25M for him. Haowan Madridstas spent almost all of the proceeds, however, on Mesut Özil from Werder Bremen. Ricky Nakano splashed the cash for Middlesbrough, spending £11.75M on Clément Chantôme from Paris Saint-Germain. Surprisingly, Manchester City made only one purchase, bringing in Mark González for £8.25M on a player exchange, Michael Johnson being the player joining González’s sellers, Wobill Luman’s Betis.

Two of the most exciting weekends for English football fans fell this month, that is, the FA Cup played both its Third and Fourth Rounds. There were no shocks in the Third Round, although Tottenham did have to knock out Martin Bojangles’s Hull in a 5-1 victory at White Hart Lane. Ricky Nakano also found he could not progress any further in the competition when travelling to Anfield for the Third Round, despite having claimed a historic victory at Old Trafford last month. Liverpool have halted Boro’s progress in both the League Cup and the FA Cup this season. Manchester United needed no help in their 2-0 away win over Tranmere while Fulham squeaked past Colchester 2-1. Manchester City claimed a health 4-0 margin over Peterborough, and Chelsea a healthy 3-0 one over Plymouth Argyle. The Fourth Round carried a few more shocks. Barnsley pulled of a superb 4-1 victory over Brucie Bonus’s West Brom, and Blackpool beat Roland Nilsson’s West Ham. Leo Dodge also found his Spurs side falling 0-1 on a trip to Preston, although Manchester City still had a healthy winning margin over Southampton, just like Tom Smith’s Arsenal over Wrexham. Aston Villa and Norwich, Bolton and Leeds, Chelsea and Liverpool and Fulham and Portsmouth take their matches to replays to determine who gets through to the Fifth Round.

The Spanish Cup also played two rounds this month, with four matches being played as each round was two-legged. Haowan Madridstas’s Barcelona and Lucas Volman’s Real Madrid met in the Fifth Round where Madrid sneaked through 5-4 on aggregate. Cristobal Blanco’s Recreativo and Joe Gleeson’s Espanyol both sneaked through, on away goals against Sporting and on penalties against Sevilla respectively. Lars Tommersen’s had a convincing win as his Villarreal team knocked out Numancia 6-1. In the Quarter Final, Lawrence Lazewski’s Valencia claimed an important win over holder Real Madrid, on away goals after a 5-5 draw, and Tommersen’s Villarreal claimed two 1-0 wins over Recreativo. Getafe and Valladolid will face each other in the other Semi Final.

Over to Italy now, where Lisa Jeffries, as you know, maintains Juventus’ grip on the league top spot. However, she lies only two points clear of her rival competitor Inter, a situation that developed after damaging and convincing losses to A.C. Milan and Fiorentina this month. Livorno, Roma and Theo Stigarakis’s Catania were seen off in other matches, and a draw came against Atalanta, but Jeffries will have to stay focused if she want her team to claim the Scudetto. Lord Weeman’s Napoli are in 9th, and had a varying month, winning against Livorno, Catania and Fiorentina, losing against Parma and Atalanta and drawing against Mikey Twigge’s Palermo. The Italian Cup Quarter Final took place this month, with Lazio knocking out Sampdoria 3-0, and Will de Mote’s A.C. Milan knocking out Genoa 3-1. Inter are also through, as are Ben Taylor’s Fiorentina who have had a poor month. Obviously they beat Juventus, and they also beat Lecce, but the loss to Napoli was joined by losses to Inter, Reggina and Siena. The team are in 7th.

Over to England now, where Tom Smith’s Arsenal have wrestled control of top spot, and the three Premier League newcomers all find themselves in the drop zone, the best of them six points adrift of safety. Despite a couple of difficult games this month, Smith has taken the Gunners to top spot after four consecutive wins scoring four goals, including the cup one over Wrexham. Liam Ferguson’s Manchester City, who have dropped to third, were seen off 4-1, Fulham were seen off 4-2 and Middlesbrough were seen off 4-1. The month started with a 2-2 draw at Anfield. Brucie Bonus’s West Brom are in trouble in 16th place, but relegation looks absolutely avoidable, although they lost badly to Man City and to Portsmouth this month, picking up four points in their other two games. Bryan McGuinness’s Everton are stranded in 9th, having had an average month, winning one, drawing two and losing one. They also beat Northampton 3-0 away in the FA Cup Fourth Round and sold Colin Kazim-Richards to Napoli for £3.1M. Tottenham will face Chelsea in the League Cup final after Spurs knocked out Sunderland and Chelsea knocked out Rafa Benítez’s Liverpool in the two-legged Semi Final.

It is over to Spain to conclude the update, and Lucas Volman’s Real Madrid have rejoined Barcelona as one of the top two teams, although they are still six points behind the leaders. Recently-promoted Zaragoza hold fourth position. Volman’s side won four of their five games this month, the blip being a 1-1 draw at home to Villarreal, but went out of the cup after a 1-3 loss away to 3rd-placed Valencia sent them home on away goals. Haowan Madridstas experienced a similar situation, winning all but one of his league games, that being a draw, yet he went out of the cup a round earlier thanks to the match-up of his Barcelona against Volman’s Real Madrid. Jellybean Man’s Numancia are in 15th, and the closest of our relevant sides to the drop, and he won two games but lost three games this month. Just above him are Andy Morton’s Sporting, who haven’t won since a 2-0 victory over Athletic on the third of the month. Sirus Lannock’s Málaga are now the only side of our representation in the LIGA adelante, and they are closing in on promotion, sitting in 4th place three points behind top spot. They enjoyed three wins this month, encountered a draw and suffered a loss, but even this form should be good enough that, if they repeat it next month, they can sneak into the top three.

All of our managers are experiencing relatively easy seasons at the moment, with the ones who weren’t already gone. But don’t rest on your laurels: that sacking could be just around the corner!

Manager of the UpdateI give this month’s award to;

Tom Smith, Arsenal

for an unbeaten month which saw him claim top spot and got him a place in the FA Cup 5th Round with style. It is quite an achievement to beat Manchester City, even if you are Arsenal! The two Spanish giants came close but both Haowan Madridstas and Lucas Volman missed out due to their cup performance: neither made it to the Spanish Cup Semi Final despite being the top two teams in the country. Arsenal have the chance to get to the FA Cup Semi Final if they win their next two FA Cup matches.

Re: 60 to One

Update 20Years: 1, Months: 20, Days: 601

February has passed with little to phone home about, and all of our managers remain in their jobs as the end-of-season really dawns on them. Tom Smith’s Arsenal still lead the Premier League, holding a slender two-point advantage over Manchester City and having played a game less. This month they beat Hull and Sunderland but fell 2-3 at Fratton Park. However, they have fared well in cup competitions, knocking Mark Cator’s Aston Villa out of the FA Cup in the 5th Round 2-1, and tallying up the same score in the first, away, leg of the Champions League Knockout stages against PSV Eindhoven. City, under the management of Englishman Liam Ferguson, fell a point behind the Gunners after winning one and drawing twice, but they too won in both the FA Cup 5th Round and the Champions League First Knockout Round First Leg.

In Spain, Lucas Volman’s Real Madrid now lead Barcelona in La Liga, after a clash of the titans between the two. Madrid won 2-1, giving them a 100% winning record for the month, including a 1-0 win in Ukraine over Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League. Haowan Madridstas’s team, on the other hand, struggled this month, winning only one game, 2-0 over Neji Hyuuga’s Deportivo. They drew their other two league games and lost at Old Trafford in the first leg of their knockout tie. Wobill Luman’s Betis are the most endangered of any of our sides, as they sit in 18th place fighting to avoid relegation. They picked up only two points from a possible twelve this month, drawing 2-2 at home to Barcelona and 0-0 away to equally-impotent fellow relegation battlers Real Sociedad. However, the most endangered manager is Andy Morton, whose Sporting team are in 14th, above their predicted position, yet Morton is Insecure. He suffered two away losses this month, but scraped together four points at home, including a shabby 1-0 win over Luman’s side.

Lisa Jeffries has not been able to retain control of the top spot in Serie A, and this month she handed it over to Ben Cee’s Inter. The Singaporean guided his team to ten from a possible twelve points in February, failing to beat Lord Weeman’s Napoli away from home. This means Inter could not beat Napoli at all this season, after a 0-2 loss to them earlier in the year. The highlight of the month would be the 3-1 victory over Reggina, beat that is marred by a 1-2 deficit to make up in the Champions League against Bayern Munich. But Juventus had a worse month, with Jeffries struggling to get together any cohesion to wrestle that title off of Inter. Frustrating draws against Parma and Palermo were followed by a loss to Sampdoria, although on the plus side, Brescia were beaten 1-0 at the end of the month, and the Old Lady has secured her place in the next round of the Europa League, knocking out Braga 3-0 on aggregate. Clark Aitken’s Roma have drifted away from the title chase and are in 5th, but that represents and improvement over the last month. Aitken is no longer Insecure, but failed to complete an unbeaten month after a 1-4 smashing at the hands of Fiorentina. However, Standard Liege were beaten in the Europa League, 5-0 on aggregate.

Brucie Bonus holds the mantle of being the lowest-placed of our managers in the Premier League. West Brom are in 16th but Bonus need not worry: they are 10 points clear of 18th-placed Birmingham City and I can almost guarantee that the Baggies will not be relegated. Losses to Hull and Sunderland were followed with a draw against Tottenham and a win over Birmingham City themselves. Yet Bonus is still Insecure. Martin Bojangles’s Hull are in 14th place, and they beat Aston Villa as well as the victory in the West Brom game. Yet trips to play Arsenal and Liverpool were demotivating: they resulted in a 0-4 and a 0-2 loss respectively. Fulham and Everton are our other sides of interest in the bottom half.

The tie of the Sixth Round in the FA Cup is a neo-Manchester Derby: Rafa Benítez’s Liverpool face Liam Ferguson’s Manchester City at Anfield. Birmingham will host Arsenal while Arnold J. Rimmer’s Championship side Bolton face a trip to Old Trafford if they want to make the semifinals. Derby face Newcastle at Pride Park in the fourth tie, which is a very open tie. Newcastle, formerly managed by Shazad Ali, are in 17th place in the Premier League and two seasons ago, Derby managed to take four points off the Magpies.

That was not the only cup action that kept viewers stuck to their Setanta and Sky screens. Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid cleared the hurdle of Sampdoria 5-3 on aggregate in the Europa League First Knockout Round. Ben Taylor’s Fiorentina knocked out CSKA Moscow 4-1, while Lars Tommersen’s Villarreal won and Tyler Burrows’s Udinese lost. Leo Dodge and Neji Hyuuga faced off in their tie, and Deportivo progressed after winning 1-0 at home following a 2-1 victory at White Hart Lane. Juventus face Liverpool and Roma face Sevilla in the next round, but there is a battle of Spain as Villarreal are to meet Atlético Madrid.

James Salter’s Reggina are doing quite well for themselves in Italy. Predicted to finish 17th, they have recovered from a little meltdown at the start of the season and are at present 14th. They had a decent haul this month, five points, including a 1-0 win over Jonte Rhodes’s Lazio at home, with two draws and a loss only to Inter. Lazio are also achieving, with their month marred by the loss to Salter’s side and a loss to table-toppers Inter. They travelled to play James Ridley’s Siena and won 3-1, as well as drawing against Napoli. Siena are the most endangered side in Serie A, sitting in 19th, but they are only one place below Mikael Schøler’s Bologna, who failed to gain a point this month. Just above the drop zone are Super Lampard’s Lecce, infamous for struggling. They have pulled themselves clear of the mire, if only on goal difference, by not losing this month, although 75% of their games were 0-0 draws, the other being a 3-1 victory.

In Spain, Maz Armley’s Racing are middling in 11th place. They lost to Numancia but beat Getafe before drawing to Valladolid and Villarreal this month. Both those sides are in the Spanish Cup semifinals, and Villarreal drew 3-3 with Lawrence Lazewski’s Valencia in their first leg, while Phill Ewles and Valladolid drew 1-1 with Getafe. In Spain’s second division, Málaga remain 4th, unable to close the gap after losing too many games this month. Sirus Lannock achieved a 50-50 split between wins and losses in his four games, but that isn’t enough to chase down that promotion spot.

With the end of the season just around the corner, will any of our managers be sacked before the year is out? Logic says no: they are all enjoying security in their cushy jobs, but you never know when a chairman might get a bit over-eager with that red button. I don’t know, some of them just love interactive services.

Manager of the UpdateI am going to be very supportive, giving this award to;

Super Lampard, Lecce

for his sturdy defence in only conceding one goal on his way to an unbeaten month that would pull him out of the drop zone. Lucas Volman also had an unbeaten month, and arguably deserved this award more, but nobody is going to prise it from Lampard’s fingers now after he worked so hard to get it. Not even Ben Taylor or Tom Smith, who also enjoyed reasonably successful months.

Re: 60 to One

Update 21Years: 1, Months: 21, Days: 632

The clock is ticking towards the end of the season, but time has already run out for one club in each of England, Spain and Italy. Our managers in England can rest easy: the time has run out only for Steve Coppell’s Ipswich, who are relegated with six games to play and only seven days after Coppell came in to replace Jim Magilton, who jumped ship to 18th-placed Birmingham in the hope of maybe avoiding the yawning relegation chasm. However, that doesn’t seem likely, as they are 13 points adrift of 17th-placed West Brom. In Spain and Italy, however, the alarm clock ringing is more unfortunate for two of our managers. Which two, it will become clear. When will it become clear? In time, of course.

We’ll start this update with a foray into European waters. This month, the Champions League First Knockout Round concluded, and the Quarter Final draw was made. It is better luck next time for two of our managers, and in fact a whole city has been eradicated from the competition as both Liam Ferguson’s Manchester City and Maurice Jobson’s Manchester United found themselves packing their bags. Penalties denied City against Lyon, after 1-0 wins for the home team in both legs of their tie. With four each scored from the initial five, Nigel de Jong missed while Sidney Govou scored to send the French into the last eight. Maurice Jobson was always going to have a hard time with a tie against Barcelona, and a 1-0 Old Trafford win was cancelled at and more with a 2-0 home victory at the Nou Camp. It will not go down well among United fans, and although the team had a decent month if not great, with their current position of 5th, they need to be steamrollering ahead, particularly if they want to defend last year’s title. While West Ham and Bolton were beaten, the latter in the FA Cup 6th Round, a loss to West Brom leaves Jobson and his followers uneasy, and the benefit of a game in hand is little as it involves an Old Trafford match with leaders Arsenal. City, on the other hand, had a good month, although all cup hopes vanished as they also fell in the FA Cup away to Liverpool, 1-3. But their scorelines in the league got progressively better. They started off with a 1-1 draw at the KC, then followed it up with a 2-1 win over Sunderland then a 3-1 one over Spurs.

The most delectable tie of the Champions League Quarter Finals will be when Barcelona attempt to wrestle another English giant to the ground in their match-up with Chelsea, while their domestic rivals Real Madrid will face Ben Cee’s Inter. Lyon and Benfica, the two remaining non-Anglo-Italo-Spanish sides, have difficult ties but they are easier than any other possible ones. Lyon will face A.C. Milan while the Portuguese are to meet Premier League leaders Arsenal.

A very delicate title battle is taking place at the top of La Liga. Lucas Volman’s Real Madrid and Haowan Madridstas’s Barcelona both have 64 points, 13 points more than 3rd-placed Atlético Madrid, and Barcelona are ahead by virtue of their superior goal difference (the results between the teams cancel each other out). Madridstas’s team had an excellent month, with of course that Champions League progression, as well as three wins in the league, including a 5-0 victory over Andy Morton’s Sporting. However, a 1-1 draw away to bottom-placed Murcia left room for improvement. On the other hand, seeing as Volman’s trip to the same ground resulted in a 1-2 defeat for Real Madrid, who enjoyed the same scenario to Barcelona in other fixtures, that extra point might be a lifesaver. Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid jumped into 3rd place with a decent month that included a 4-0 victory over Phill Ewles’s Valladolid, although there was a 2-3 loss to Getafe. They also progressed in the Europa League after a 5-1 aggregate victory over compatriots Villarreal, and are set to face Roma in the next round.

Roma are a team in turmoil. Clark Aitken’s team fell to 7th in Serie A this month after a missed opportunity to catch up on Inter and Juventus, who played each other in the month. An away loss to Parma was followed by an unconvincing 1-0 win over Palermo and then a 1-1 draw against Sampdoria. These were intertwined with the slightly more convincing 3-0 home win over Sevilla in the Europa League, and the follow-up 1-0 win in Spain. Aitken is currently Stable, but with the side falling behind the future is murky. At the sharp end of the table, the competition is fierce and tight. Lisa Jeffries’s Juventus and Ben Cee’s Inter are locked in a fiery battle for the Scudetto crown. The Old Lady triumphed 3-0 in a clash between the two this month, but crashed out of the Europa League against Liverpool. Jeffries also beat Reggina, Napoli and Lazio in a successful month. Yet apart from that blip, Inter arguably had a better month, winning 2-1 over rivals A.C. Milan in the Cup Semifinal First Leg, smashing Siena and Bayern Munich and beating Lecce and Udinese. But the victory at Olimpico, Turin, will be the one on Juventus fans’ lips and could cost the Nerazzurri at the end of the season, a mere eight games away.

At the other end of the Serie A table, Super Lampard’s Lecce are pulling away from the bottom three and despite two 0-2 defeats this month against good teams, they beat Napoli 2-1 and Reggina 4-1 to send them to a dizzying 15th. From the sounds of it, James Salter’s Reggina had a torrid month, and they did, losing all four of their games. But the situation is worst for Mikael Schøler, whose Bologna team are the lowest of ours in a depressing 19th place. Schøler guided his team to two losses this month, against bermybhoy’s Atalanta, who won all four of their games this month and are in 4th place, and against Napoli, before being shown the door by Alfredo Cazzola, having lasted 613 days in charge. James Ridley’s Siena are sandwiched between Bologna and Reggina in 18th place, and Ridley had a good if not lucky month, as after a 1-4 loss to Inter, he beat Reggina then Napoli, and then had the fortune to be able to finish the month against Bologna, a match that Ridley drew 0-0 with Schøler’s successor.

Over in Albion, well, the England part of Albion, Andre da Conceiçao’s Chelsea beat Tottenham Hostpur 2-1 in an exciting Carling Cup final (this actually happened on the last day of last month but I think I forgot to mention it). Tom Huddlestone levelled for Spurs three minutes from time so it took extra time, where Ivorian Didier Drogba settled the scores in the 110th minute. Chelsea have had a poor March, with their clearest result a 2-0 home win over Schalke to send them into the Champions League Quarter Finals 4-0 on aggregate. They also beat Ipswich, 3-2, but drew against West Brom and lost to West Ham and to Newcastle. They are currently in 4th looking out of the title race. Tottenham are in 6th place after a mixed month, but the surprise of the top half is the presence of Ricky Nakano’s Middlesbrough, who have climbed up to 7th from 10th this month. With only three games this month, they drew away to Hull and Blackburn, but achieved a 3-0 win when Juande Ramos’s Portsmouth came to the Riverside. Portsmouth are only one place below Boro in 8th, but Ramos is Insecure. If he were to go, Pompey could be looking at their fourth manager in two seasons. Down in the bottom half of the Premier League, there is little concern for our managers as I’ve emphasised many times, as the bottom three are composed of last season’s Championship roster, although Brucie Bonus still finds his West Brom position Insecure.

And so we take another foray into European waters, with the Europa League Second Knockout Round, which was started and finished this month. Ben Taylor’s Fiorentina finished off Porto, winning 5-4 over both legs. As you already know, Liverpool progressed over Juventus, Roma over Sevilla and Atlético Madrid over Villarreal, but the battle of Iberia resulted in Sporting CP taking out Neji Hyuuga’s Deportivo, with the Englishman currently Insecure, and the battle of Britain saw Newcastle knocking Celtic out of the tournament. And there was Russian success in the other two ties, as Spartak Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow beat Olympiakos and Anderlecht respectively. The Russian sides will face Liverpool and Fiorentina in the Quarter Finals, while Atlético Madrid and Roma will meet.

Moving on to the time running out for the third club this month. We know that Mikael Schøler has clocked off already, and that Ipswich are counting down their final few games as they are guaranteed to drop back to the Championship, but the third hourglass has emptied at Málaga this month. After coming so close to breaching the top three and perhaps reclaiming La Liga football, Sirus Lannock’s season fell apart and so he was dismissed from management. This month saw them fall to 8th without a single win, as they drew both their home games and lost both their away games by a one-goal margin. The news isn’t much of a shock to be honest, with floundering Málaga desperately seeking a return to the top flight but messing up, with Lannock’s team already having dropped 47 points from 32 games. Málaga don’t look likely to make that return, and could be joined next season by Wobill Luman’s Betis. Although the Spanish bottom three are made up of Murcia, Real Sociedad and Mallorca, Betis hover just above Sociedad on 26 points. They had three 1-1 draws in a row this month which is not a bad result at all for a 17th-placed team, but any hope of an unbeaten mediocre month evaporated with a 0-2 loss at the end of the month to Cristobal Blanco’s Recreativo. Betis will still have to continue the fight to avoid being dragged into the drop zone as the number of games to play ticks away.

Over to the English Championship now, where Arnold J. Rimmer’s Bolton have secured a playoff spot. They were knocked out of the FA Cup 1-3 at Old Trafford but their fans aren’t depressed, nor are they by the trip to Wales that saw a 0-2 loss for the Trotters. Instead, the wins over Coventry, Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday have seen Bolton sure of a playoff spot and remaining top of the league, by a “mere” ten points, a position which they have enjoyed since the second game of the season, because 20th-placed Preston held it after the first. Stoke and Wigan are also in the playoff spots, meaning next season’s Premier League could be the same as last’s. The Premier League strugglers at the moment are 13th-placed Everton, who sold off their better players to Manchester City last season. Bryan McGuinness’s team got 3 points from a possible 9 this month, losing to both Arsenal and Aston Villa but beating mildly-troubled West Brom. One place below the Toffees are Tim Aubel’s Fulham, who had a close shave with relegation last season. They had one of each this month, beating Hull but losing to Portsmouth and drawing against Sunderland.

A handful of games remain, and it’s been proven from this month that just because these last few months have been relatively sacking-free it doesn’t means that these next few ones will be. Chairman of struggling sides might be hitting the panic button just about now, just as has happened at Bologna…

Manager of the UpdateThere was a lot of competition this month, and the award goes to;

bermybhoy, Atalanta

for being the only manager to achieve wins in all of his games. Tom Smith came close but drew with PSV, Birmingham and Tottenham, Haowan Madridstas came close but drew against Murcia, and Lisa Jeffries came close with a table-topping performance, but lost to Liverpool. bermybhoy is currently flying high eight places above his predicted position, and this month is another one of the great ones that got him there.

Re: 60 to One

Update 22Years: 1, Months: 22, Days: 662

It hasn’t been a hugely interesting month and all that has happened is that tournaments have ticked over to their finale. The only sackings this month have been in the Championship, which Arnold J. Rimmer’s Bolton have just won with 96 points. Two away losses were accompanied by three wins this month for the Trotters, including two 4-0 victories over Swansea and Southampton. They will find themselves in the Premier League next season, alongside Bristol City, and one of either Stoke, Sheffield Wednesday, Reading, Wigan, Wolves, Charlton or Coventry.

The Champions League has also been heading towards its conclusion, with the Quarter Finals and the first leg of the Semi Finals being played this month. Olympique Lyonnais claimed a nice little victory over A.C. Milan in the Last 8, while Ben Cee’s Inter managed to overcome Real Madrid 3-1 on aggregate, with a 2-0 win at the Bernabéu. Chelsea and Benfica went home as Barcelona and Arsenal won, leaving the Champions League Semi Finals just as they should be: with one team each from four nations. Tom Smith’s Arsenal won 3-2 in France for the first leg, while Barcelona hold a similar one-goal lead over Inter in the other tie.

Let’s travel over to Spain now, where the league is still quite open due to relatively few games having been played. In unlucky thirteenth are Jellybean Man’s Numancia, who won two but lost three this month. Surrounding him are Maz Armley’s Racing and Getafe. This month, Racing did slightly worse than Numanica, winning only one, drawing once, and losing their other three games. At the top of the table, Lucas Volman’s Real Madrid have a comfortable 9-point lead over rivals Barcelona, with 77 points. They won four of their five games this month, the other a draw, including two 3-0 victories over Sevilla and Cristobal Blanco’s Recreativo. Haowan Madridstas’s team, however, had a torrid time, and they actually lost to Recreativo. They also lost to Atlético Madrid and Athletic, gaining four points for the month with a win and a draw. Although they progressed in the Champions League and have a chance of reaching the final, I’m not sure that Barcelona fans will be happy with the way in which they rolled over to allow Real to take the title (a feat which has yet to happen, but will happen, no doubt).

My next tip for the sack is James Ridley of Siena, whose team are in 18th place in Serie A. However, it all depends on who fills that relegation place, with Brescia, Lecce, Catania and James Salter’s Reggina trying to avoid it. This month, Siena lost three games in a row before bouncing back to two draws, including one against Roma. Reggina managed a win and a draw but lost their other three, and Theo Stigarakis’s Catania managed to lose all five games this month. Just safe are Cardio Vascular’s Genoa, who had a wild month, winning once, drawing twice and losing three times.

In the English FA Cup Semifinal, it took both Arsenal and Maurice Jobson’s Manchester United extra time to reach the next and ultimate round. The Gunners knocked out ten-man Liverpool thanks to a 109th minute Emmanuel Adebayor goal. 10-man Manchester United beat 10-man Newcastle 1-0 thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s 91st minute goal. Despite this, Jobson is Insecure as his team lies 5th in the Premier League, with a real danger of not making the Champions League spots. Generally, they had a poor month this month. A 0-0 draw with Mark Cator’s Aston Villa was disappointing, and while a 2-0 win over Fulham was great for the end of the month, in between those two matches the Red Devils had already lost 1-2 to Liverpool, and 3-4 at the City of Manchester Stadium. They travel to the Riverside next before home ties against Arsenal and Portsmouth.

Tom Smith’s Arsenal retain top spot despite a 0-2 defeat to already-relegated Ipswich. They are two points ahead of Manchester City with a game in hand. Chelsea and Crystal Palace were beaten this month, as well as of course Benfica and Liverpool in the cups, and there was also a 2-2 draw at home to Newcastle. Smith faces West Ham in his final home league game of the season, before that all-important Manchester United match followed by an away trip to Brucie Bonus’s West Brom. Bonus’s worries are behind him as it is now impossible for his 15th-place team to get relegated, as Ipswich, Crystal Palace and Birmingham have already saturated the drop zone and will be playing in the Championship next season. The disappointment of the month was for Ricky Nakano, whose Middlesbrough team sunk from 7th to 12th with heavy losses to Tottenham and Everton.

Just like the Champions League, the Europa League played a Quarter Final and the first leg of a Semi Final this month. Lokomotiv and Spartak Moscow lost to Ben Taylor’s Fiorentina and to Liverpool respectively, while Newcastle knocked out Sporting CP of Portugal, and the clash of the titans saw Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid oust Clark Aitken’s Roma on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate draw. Manager is drawing 1-1 with Liverpool after the first leg of the semifinal, and the other semifinal is also at the 1-1 stage, Fiorentina holding Newcastle.

That wasn’t the only cup action this month, of course, and in Italy, the Italian Cup semifinals were concluded. Jonte Rhodes’s Lazio knocked out Fiorentina 4-1 on aggregate while Will de Mote’s A.C. Milan knocked out rivals Inter on penalties after a 3-3 draw. It is no longer that close at the top of Serie A, with Lisa Jeffries’s Juventus 9 points ahead of Ben Cee’s Inter while Inter have four games left to play. Juventus won all but one of their games this month, picking up 13 points as they drew with Lecce. Inter struggled all month, losing 0-3 to Roma at the beginning, losing to A.C. Milan, narrowly beating Genoa and drawing against bermybhoy’s Atalanta. A.C. Milan, Roma and Udinese are further off the chase in the next three positions, while Mikey Twigge’s Palermo sit way down in 13th, unbeaten this month but for an away trip to Parma.

In Spain, due to so few games being played, many teams are still in with a slight danger of relegation. The most likely of these would be Wobill Luman’s Betis, who are 16th, winning two, losing two and drawing one this month. On the verge of safety is Joe Gleeson’s Espanyol, who picked up just two points this month, and Phill Ewles’s Valladolid, who are almost safe, and who will face Lawrence Lazewski’s Valencia, a team who won all five games this month with a 17-4 margin, in next month’s Spanish Cup Final.

It has been a quiet month, but perhaps it is just the calm before the storm? I predict some casualties at the foot of the Italian league next month, and who knows, perhaps some high profile managers such as Maurice Jobson could join those casualties in hospital?

Manager of the UpdateThere is only one real outcome here. The winner is;

Lawrence Lazewski, Valencia

for winning all of his games this month with some nice scorelines. He scored four goals in three of his matches this month, and two and three goals in the other two. Table-toppers Juventus and Real Madrid and their managers Lisa Jeffries and Lucas Volman were in the running too, but they weren’t perfect this month, neither were Tom Smith or Arnold J. Rimmer, who did well to top the leagues in England.

Re: 60 to One

A lead in the semis of the Champions League is looking good. Sitting top of the Premiership too, although i'm more than a little disappointed that we didn't capitalise against Ipswich to stretch our lead at the top. Hopefully we won't have any more slip-ups in the league.

Re: 60 to One

Re: 60 to One

Update 23Years: 1, Months: 23, Days: 693

And so the busy month of May has concluded. No sackings this month, which comes as a bit of a surprise, but for the relegated teams of interest, perhaps their managers might be heading for the door at some point through next season.

We’ll start with the Premier League, which concluded first. Martin Bojangles’s Hull suffered a very poor month losing 0-3 at home to already-relegated Birmingham and then falling 0-2 at Goodison Park. Still, in the end, the Tigers enjoyed a nice 10-point cushion over 18th-placed Birmingham. Of course, you are more interested in things at the top, where Tom Smith’s Arsenal claimed the title in slightly lacklustre form, with a 1-0 win and two 1-1 draws this month, but it was enough. After 4-3 aggregate progress in the Champions League Semi Final against Lyon, he now has two finals to look forward to in the pursuit of a treble. Second-placed Manchester City were three points behind the Gunners in the end, concluding their season with a win against Crystal Palace and a draw against 9th-placed Newcastle.

Italy seems the logical place to go next, and the manager in with a chance of a sacking next season is James Ridley, whose Siena team got relegated in 18th place. Alongside Siena are Bologna and Livorno, meaning that two of last season’s promoted teams, Brescia and Parma, survived. With the chasm of relegation yawning, Ridley did manage a win this month, 2-1 at home to Theo Stigarakis’s Catania, but he also managed two losses and went down. James Salter’s Reggina finished just above the drop zone with Catania just above that. This month Salter’s team claimed a nice 3-1 victory over Fiorentina but also lost two games. Super Lampard’s Lecce finished 15th.

Where better to go next but to stay in Italy? The Italian Cup final saw an attendance of 81,177 packing the stands of Olimpico, where Jonte Rhodes’s Lazio were to meet Will de Mote’s A.C. Milan.

Road to the Final: Italian CupLazio started off in the Third Qualfying Round where they met, and dismissed, Cagliari, with a 3-0 win. They achieved a similar feat in the Fourth Qualifying Round, playing away to Rimini, scoring three goals and conceding none. Will de Mote’s team joined them in the First Round, and dismissed the side who would go on to prop up Serie A: Livorno, 2-1 at home. Lazio faced a tough away trip to Roma but came away from it with a 1-0 win. They went back to their comfortable wins in the Quarter Final, beating Sampdoria 3-0 while A.C. Milan achieved a 3-1 victory over Genoa. A.C. Milan’s semifinal line-up saw them against bitter rivals Inter, where penalties carried them through as the “away” team won 2-1 in both legs. Lazio were all the more comfortable in their 4-1 aggregate win over Fiorentina.

With Lazio finishing tenth in the league and A.C. Milan third, you wouldn’t blame someone for backing Will de Mote’s team to win. However, as a final, it was difficult to say which way the result would go. Within five minutes there was action as A.C. Milan gained and converted a penalty thanks to the spot-kick from Andrea Pirlo. Yet just two minutes later, Lazio had brought it level with a penalty of their own, Tommaso Rocchi slotting it home. The match was over by half time, as A.C. Milan scored again through Guilherme in the 18th minute, and the Lazio equaliser came in the 29th. Nothing else of interest happened during the rest of the 90 minutes or extra time, so the match went to penalties. After five penalties each, the scores were level at 5-5, but Cristian Brocchi’s miss when Gianluca Zambrotta scored meant that A.C. Milan would get to lift the cup.

In Spain, the close title race evaporated last month as Lucas Volman’s Real Madrid clinched the title this month, winning three games, drawing one and losing one. Barcelona did slightly worse and came nowhere near to bridging the gap that had opened, winning and drawing twice each and losing on the final day to third-place finishers Lawrence Lazewski’s Valencia. Atlético Madrid completed the top four, but at the bottom, Wobill Luman finds his prospects dull as he goes down to the LIGA adelante with his Betis team. Winning his first two games of the month, survival was perhaps on the cards, but he lost the next three and the club went down. Real Sociedad and Murcia join him, which means that Zaragoza survive, in the lofty position of 7th. Maz Armley’s Racing, Andy Morton’s Sporting, Jellybean Man’s Numancia and Athletic were all close to the drop, tallying 40 points and finishing in the four spots above 18th, 1 point clear of Real Sociedad.

In both European finals it was a battle of England and Spain. We’ll start with the slightly lower profile one, the inaugural final of the Europa League.

Road to the Final: Europa LeagueEPL side Newcastle, under the management of Dick Advocaat, started their Europa League campaign against AaB in the Fourth Qualifying Round. The Danes were dimissed 6-0 on aggregate and Newcastle were drawn in a group with Standard Liège, Sparta Prague and Russians Khimki. They opened the group with an excellent 5-0 win over Khimki and went on to win the group, unbeaten. This meant a tie against Galatasary in the next round and, despite a 0-2 defeat in Turkey, The Magpies continued through 4-3 on aggregate to face Celtic in the next round. They knocked the Scots out 3-2 on aggregate and were drawn against Sporting CP in the Quarter Finals. It was a close tie, and the Toon Army won on away goals after a 2-3 loss in Portugal was followed by a 2-1 win in the UK. A narrow win in Italy saw Newcastle reach the final after a draw with Fiorentina at St. James’ Park.

Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid also started in the Fourth Qualfying Round against Scandinavian opposition. They beat Finns HJK 7-2 on aggregate and were drawn in a group with Vitesse, Juventus and Maccabi Haifa. They lost and drew to Juventus but won every other game to finish second in their group, setting up a knockout round tie with Sampdoria, which they won 5-3. Countrymen Villarreal were beaten 5-1 in the Second Knockout Round and a tougher tie followed, against Roma in the Quarter Final. Still, away goals saw Atlético triumph despite a 1-3 loss in Rome, and they squeaked through their semifinal against Liverpool 4-2 on penalties after two 1-1 draws. That was despite having two men sent off in the second, home, leg.

Close to 57,000 packed the HSH-Nordbank-Arena in Hamburg for a rather dull match. The atmosphere was electric, however, and Cool Manager’s side once again found discipline hard to control as Simão was sent off in the 88th minute. Yet the Spaniards had already scored by then, courtesy of Diego Forlán at the recommencement of the second half, and they held out the final few minutes to win the first ever Europa League.

Road to the Final: Champions LeagueBarcelona were drawn into a group of Udinese, Bayern Munich and CSKA Sofia. Not an easy group by any stretch of the imagination, but Haowan Madridstas’s team topped it thanks to four wins and two draws. They faced Manchester United in the Round of 16, and knocked the Red Devils out with a 2-0 win at the Nou Camp, and would face another English side, Chelsea, in the next round. The Blues lost that match, 4-5 on aggregate, and the glamorous opponents continued with a tie against Inter. A 2-1 win in Spain was followed by a marvellous 3-0 victory at the San Siro to see Barcelona into the final.

Tom Smith’s Arsenal had an easier group: Rosenborg, Olympiakos and Valencia. They topped it, dropping only two points, in the most difficult game, away to Valencia, and met PSV Eindhoven in the First Knockout Round. The result was closer than expected as the Gunners went through 4-3, and their luck in weaker opponents continued into the Quarter Finals as they drew Benfica. They sent the Portuguese side packing 5-1 and faced Lyon in the Semifinal. A 3-2 victory in France meant a 1-1 draw at the Emirates was good enough for progression.

The match was at the Bernabéu, which meant a significantly smaller travelling distance for Haowan Madridstas’s Barcelona. The match looked quite steady and controlled in front of its 75,000 spectators, but in 3 minutes Barcelona certainly had the advantage, as Henry’s 30th minute goal was added to by Yaya Touré in the 33rd. Arsenal did little in response, and Barcelona ran out 3-0 winners with Thierry Henry adding a second in the 58th minute.

Back over to Italy now, where the title race was concluded relatively early. Lisa Jeffries’s Juventus clinched first place this month with a win against Roma, then 1-1 draws against A.C. Milan and Catania. Ben Cee’s Inter finished 4 points short of Juventus’ 84-point haul, but made up some superfluous ground this month, winning thrice and drawing once. Clark Aitken’s Roma recovered to take 4th in the end after beating Lecce and Tyler Burrows’s Udinese both 2-0 following that Juventus result. The surprise story is bermybhoy’s Atalanta finishing 7 places above expectations in 5th to claim a Europa League spot. The Scot won two of his games and lost one this month.

Over in England, with Arsenal having won the title over Liam Ferguson’s Manchester City; Liverpool and Andre da Conceiçao’s Chelsea completed the top four. da Conceiçao beat Fulham and Liverpool this month although drew to Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridge. Maurice Jobson’s Manchester United finished 5th and so Jobson rightfully feared for his job, but a good performance in the FA Cup Final could redeem him.

Road to the Final: FA CupThe Third Round saw a trip to Southend for Tom Smith’s Arsenal, which he won 1-0. It was another away day in the Fourth Round, this time to Wales, where Wrexham were beaten 4-0. Two Birmingham teams followed in the next two rounds, with Aston Villa being beaten 2-1 at Villa Park in the Fifth and Birmingham being beaten 3-0 in an Emirates replay in the Sixth. The Semifinal saw the visit of Liverpool, who were beaten 2-1. Manchester United started the competition with an away trip also, as they beat Tranmere 2-0. They then faced Sunderland and rallied a 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light, returning to Old Trafford for the Fifth Round match against MK Dons. An easy 4-0 win followed, as did an easy 3-1 win in the Sixth Round over Bolton. Europa League runners-up Newcastle were the opponents in the semifinal, and were beaten 1-0.

Wembley was full but for one person, and Tom Smith was eager to avoid the 0-3 drubbing he was going to receive in the Champions Leauge final. Maurice Jobson knew that a bad performance here could result in his dismissal, but a win would put him so much closer to security. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 29th minute to give the Red Devils the lead. Carlos Tevez converted a penalty in the 37th minute and the misery was completed in the 83rd minute when Tevez scored again to give United the win. Two finals, two 0-3 losses, but a title to ease the pain of Tom Smith and his Arsenal supporters.

Cristobal Blanco’s Recreativo had the comfort of securing mid-table mediocrity in Spain, finishing 10th. He won just one match this month. Just below him finished Neji Hyuuga’s Deportivo. They also won once this month (both teams won against Racing), and Hyuuga’s position is Insecure. The main highlight of the month was the Spanish Cup final, where Lawrence Lazewski’s Valencia would meet Phill Ewles’s Valladolid.

Road to the Final: Spanish CupThe first two rounds of Valencia’s Spanish Cup journey were easy ties. Cartagena were defeated 6-1 on aggregate in the Fourth Round, and Hércules were defeated 5-1 on aggregate in the Fifth. Yet a tie against Real Madrid awaited in the Quarter Final, and an expected loss at the Bernabéu opened the tie. Yet a 3-1 win in the home leg meant that Lawrence Lazewski’s side would continue on away goals. They had a slightly easier tie in the next round, against Villarreal, and won 5-4 on aggregate after an exciting 3-3 draw in the away leg.

Valladolid got to the final without having to face any giants, but met with La Liga sides all the way. First they beat Real Sociedad 5-2 on aggregate, and would meet Mallorca in the 5th Round. They won 3-2, but both of those opponents got relegated so they still had tougher ties to come. The Quarter Final came in the form of Espanyol, and it looked as if their cup dream was over as the Barcelona team won 2-0 in the first leg. But taking it back to Valladolid saw a 3-0 win overcome the deficit. Getafe were beaten 3-1 in the Semifinal.

The final was quite exciting as Valencia carved out a 2-0 lead in the first half in front of 75,000 supporters. Valladolid closed the gap in the 54th minute but could not get a second goal to force extra time, and Lawrence Lazewski’s side claimed the victory, although Phill Ewles had made a valiant effort in getting this far.

With the World Cup approaching next month, all eyes turn away from the domestic arena. It’s likely that nobody will get sacked, for the mean time at least.

Manager of the UpdateThis month, the award goes to;

Will de Mote, A.C. Milan

for achieving success in the Italian Cup. Other candidates were Lisa Jeffries, whose Juventus won Serie A, Maurice Jobson, whose Man United came back from the brink to have a good season with an FA Cup win, Haowan Madridstas for the Champions League win or Lawrence Lazewski for a good month including a Spanish Cup win. Tom Smith came nowhere near this award after messing up so disastrously his potential treble.

Re: 60 to One

Very Secure is excellent a great effort to make the final of the Copa de Italia, and a good show against the big boys too. Even better to see myself as Very Secure and the winner of the cup on Insecure... 8th in the league is where I would like to stay, no pushing it around too much haha.

Re: 60 to One

Re: 60 to One

Oh God, that didn't go well. A possible treble, but ended up conceeding 6 goals with no reply in two finals. Good job we won the Premiership. Up to very secure job status now too. Roll on next season. Hopefully we can defend our title, and add to it with a couple of cups.

Re: 60 to One

World Cup Preview

The managers will hit their two-year mark in management but that will be the least of their concerns as virtually all attention turns to the World Cup. 32 nations will battle it out for the best prize in football, but by the end of June, only eight will remain with a shot at the Jules Rimet trophy. Let’s take a look at the groups in advance before the matches begin.

Group A sees Italy and Slovakia representing Europe, alongside Tunisia and Paraguay. Italy secured their qualification safely atop Group 8 while Slovakia had to beat Bulgaria in a playoff to reach South Africa. Tunisia had to top their group to qualify, which they did, ousting their strongest competitors Egypt. Paraguay, meanwhile, got here by finishing 3rd in South American qualification, behind the two big guns. Italy and Paraguay are my favourites for this one, but Slovakia might be in with a chance.

Group B has just the one European team, but that doesn’t mean it lacks stars. Far from it in fact. Germany and Brazil are the favourites to reach the second round from this group, Brazil naturally having topped the South American qualifying and Germany ousting Russia to top Group 4 in Europe. I don’t believe Honduras, who qualified as the 3rd-best North American team, or Iran, who got through their qualifying group in second, will come anywhere close, and it’s also anyone’s guess who will get the points when they face each other.

Group C has some pretty powerful names in the economic world, with France representing Europe and the United States also in the group. Argentina, who finished second in qualifying, join from South America and Japan are the Asian representatives, having won their group over Australia. France, just like in real life, couldn’t win their group so they knocked out Sweden in a playoff. The Americans finished behind Mexico in the North American qualifying but are here in South Africa. Argentina and France are the obvious choices to go through, but as neither of them won their qualifying groups, it isn’t all that clear cut.

It’s a bit easier in Group D, with some good but not quite spectacular nations competing. Australia, who finished second in their Asian Qualifying Group, are the only Oceanic team in the competition, and will be looking to progress alongside the Netherlands over Serbia and Ghana, the former beating France to win their group and the latter qualifying with ease over Angola, Guinea and Sudan. The Dutch naturally topped their European group with Scotland and Norway, and are my favourites alongside Australia to progress, but I wouldn’t expect them to get much further than that. Serbia and Ghana look like they could make it close, but I’m sure that they won’t and it will be quite easy for the favourites in the end.

Now, the group you’ve all been waiting for, Group E, and it’s exceptionally easy for England. They of course won their qualifying group, as did their European groupmates Switzerland. Mali beat Africa’s most populous nation Nigeria to get this far, and South Korea won against Qatar and New Zealand in playoffs to qualify. England will progress with ease, and South Korea is the obvious choice for second, but I have a sneaky feeling about Mali.

Group F is similar to Group D, with some good but not amazing nations competing. The winners of the inaugural World Cup finished 4th in qualifying and find themselves here, while the Ivory Coast won their group with fellow Francophones Algeria eliminated. From Europe come the Czech Republic and Belgium. The Czechs won their group against rivals Slovakia and the Belgians had to beat Ukraine to get here as their group contained Spain. I have a feeling about the Czech Republic and Ivory Coast, but it is wide open so Uruguay could progress, although for Belgium it is a long shot.

It seems pretty clear cut in Group G, where the mighty Spaniards look set to take the group, after topping their qualifying group also. I predict Greece, who scraped past Russia in the playoff, to take second place, leaving Saudi Arabia and Senegal behind. The Arabians won their qualifying group, and Senegal eliminated Cameroon by winning theirs.

Finally, on to Group H, where bizarrely we find the hosts, South Africa. I don’t expect them to get through to the next round, or even to finish any higher than bottom. They would have to beat Mexico, who won the North American qualifying, Portugal, who won Group 1 in Europe, and Chile, who qualified in the All-American playoff to do that. It doesn’t look like happening, so Mexico and Portugal are my bets to go through.

Re: 60 to One

Update 24 and World Cup Update Part IYears: 2, Months: 24, Days: 723

So, the two-year milestone has more or less passed, but as I said, the World Cup was at the forefront of people’s attention this month. Let’s take a look at how the group stages unfolded before setting our eyes on the domestic scene. Then we’ll see how the month ended and the 16 teams in the World Cup played off to become eight.

In Group A, holders Italy were obviously the runaway winners, but I was right about Slovakia being in with a chance. They took the second-placed position with a 2-1 win over Paraguay. As expected, Tunisia dropped all three games, but the biggest win was actually over Paraguay as Italy beat them 3-0. Meanwhile, Group B unfolded just as expected, with Germany and Brazil progressing and Iran and Honduras heading home. The top two drew with each other and the bottom two drew with each other, while Brazil also drew with Iran, giving Germany the group on 7 points, with Brazil on 5, Iran on 2 and Honduras with just the one. Due to Brazil finishing second, there is already a phenomenal tie on the cards as they face Italy in the next round.

Group C wasn’t as open as I thought it might be, although Argentina did only progress on goal difference. France won all their games, 3-0 against Japan but only 1-0 in the other two, while Japan lost all of theirs, going on 1-9 on goals. The United States and Argentina drew, so Argentina beating Japan 4-1 as opposed to the American 2-0 victory meant they would continue. I really messed up my Group D prediction as both Serbia and Ghana went through. I knew it would be close but I didn’t expect those two to have that cutting edge. Serbia beat Australia and Ghana beat the Netherlands, and Serbia also beat Ghana. As the two favourites drew two games and lost one, Serbia are set to play Argentina in the next round and Ghana will meet France.

I was right about Mali in a sense, in Group E, as they beat South Korea 2-0 to claim third. But this was after they had already lost 0-3 to England and 0-4 to Switzerland. The Swiss topped the group due to that goal, as they drew with England and both they and England drew with South Korea. It wasn’t that easy for England at all, so they might not continue too far. Group F was indeed difficult to predict, but I was right about the Czech Republic, and somewhat wrong about Belgium. Belgium went through in second behind the Czechs with 4 points. The Czech Republic won all their games and Belgium won in the scrap with Uruguay and the Ivory Coast for second place after a 1-0 win over the African nation. Switzerland face Belgium and England the Czech Republic.

Spain met my expectations in Group G, but Greece did not. The Iberians won all three games but Greece drew their other two, allowing Senegal to steal second place with a 3-0 win over bottom-placed Saudi Arabia. South Africa definitely met my expectations in Group H, though, losing all three games without scoring a goal. Portugal won all three and Mexico continue in second place over Chile, meaning they will face the motherland Spain in the next round while Portugal meet Senegal.

The World Cup wasn’t the only international action this month, as the early stages of the second ever Europa League kicked off. Super Lampard’s Lecce got in when Italy were allocated an extra place thanks to the Fair Play draw, and they were drawn against Banants of Armenia. A 4-0 win in Armenia was bettered by a goal back at home, and Lampard’s team progressed 9-0 on aggregate to face the Irish team Bohemians in the Second Qualifying Round.

In England, Martin Bojangles has a lot of work on his hands as Hull are expected to finish bottom once again. In fact, his work so far has been a bit of a miracle, as he guided his team to 15th in 2009 and 17th in 2010. But another drop of two positions would see him down, and this time there aren’t three Championship-quality sides to act as a cushion. Sheffield Wednesday and Bristol City are expected to make the rest of the going-down trio but are thought to be able to finish above Hull. Newly-promoted Arnold J. Rimmer’s Bolton are expected to finish 15th. At the other end, Liam Ferguson’s Manchester City are expected to finally get their claws on that trophy, with Tom Smith’s Arsenal predicted to finish 2nd.

In Italy also we are expected our third different champion in a row, with Ben Cee’s Inter tipped to claim the Serie A title. Lisa Jeffries’s Juventus are expected to finish second. It is believed that newly-promoted Rimini will finish bottom, and will take Chievo and Cagliari with them. Still, that’s not to say our managers are safe. Theo Stigarakis’s Catania, for instance, are predicted 17th. In Serie B, James Ridley will be looking to achieve promotion with Siena, for he’ll surely get the axe if he doesn’t. There has already been transfer activity in Italy, the largest of which was Mikey Twigge’s £26M signing of Edison Cavani from A.C. Milan. Will de Mote’s side are already using the money wisely, spending £5.5M on Alberto Paloschi from Parma. Their rivals Inter bought Coutinho from Vasco for £3.5M.

Spain has yet to hit the reset date, although Almería will be returning to La Liga, while Osasuna and Málaga did not make it. Zaragoza have shifted a few players in preparation for the new season, as have Lucas Volman’s Real Madrid, all on free transfers, but there isn’t a lot of fun to be had looking at La Liga right now.

That’s because all the fun is in the World Cup, where the Second Round also took place this month. The giants of Italy took on the titans of Brazil, making them both seem normal-sized. We’ll look at that at the end, but first let’s take a look at some of the other ties, with the most predictable coming first. From Groups G and H, Spain dimissed Mexico with ease and a 3-0 thrashing, while their Iberian neigbours Portugal won 2-0 against Senegal. Also, Ghana faced France and lost 0-2 to goals from Franck Ribéry and Mathieu Flamini.

England faced the Czech Republic and, had they had a good performance in the Group Stages, few would have doubted Fabio Capello’s men. In the end, they turned on the style to win, but there are still uneasy feelings as there was some lack of conversion, resulting in only a 2-1 win. Frank Lampard got both the goals, putting fears to rest after Tomas Rosicky opened the scoring just nine minutes in. Switzerland faced Belgium, and both are relative minnows in the game, but the Belgians sealed their progress due to a Stein Huysegems goal. Switzerland going down to ten men after Valon Behrami’s dismissal made it easier for the Belgians to get that goal and win that match.

Argentina faced Serbia, and the southeastern Europeans had already surpassed my expectations by advancing from a group with the Netherlands and Australia competing. They did it again, as Milos Krasic cancelled out Carlos Tevez’s opener early in the second half, and the match played out to full time and to extra time still at deadlock. After four penalties, the victor was clear, with Argentina sloppily missing two spot-kicks while the Serbs maintained a 100% conversion rate.

Germany faced Slovakia in what would be one of the most pointless matches of the round, as Germany were bound to win. They hit 20 shots at the Serbs in a domineering performance, but found themselves unable to convert, losing 0-2 to the eight Slovak shots. Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel opened the scoring very early on in the 4th minute, and the lead was doubled 21 minutes in. The Germans going down to ten minute just before half-time would make it more difficult for them to come back, but everyone believed that there was still a way. There wasn’t, and Slovakia progress.

And now to the most speculated tie in the round, as Brazil and Italy met up. As I said, they both seemed normal sized against each other, and the match was dull and exciting at the same time. Full and extra time saw it drawn to an agonisingly electrifying 0-0 stalemate, and penalties would decide this high-profile match. Italy seemed to blow their chance straight away, missing their first spot-kick, and hoping that Brazil would let up. The South Americans did not, and progressed 5-3 on penalties, with Italy not needing to take that final penalty. They will surely end Serbia’s progress in the next round while Slovakia look set to fall to France. Belgium and Portugal will meet in a game that could be closer than expected, but the one tie that people will look forward to is England meeting Spain. Fabio Capello has brought the team far, but can they make that all important leap in the most important match of the Italian’s reign?

Only next month will we know.

Manager of the UpdateIt seems a bit silly giving the award but;

Will de Mote, A.C. Milan

is the winner as he managed to spin a nice and handsome profit. His sale of Edison Cavani to Palermo played its part in a £20.5M profit for the month. René Vandereycken, Radomir Antic and Vladimir Weiss came close for doing so well with Belgium, Serbia and Slovakia respectively, while Super Lampard’s 9-0 European win is a promising sign.

Re: 60 to One

Re: 60 to One

Update 25 and World Cup Update Part IIYears: 2, Months: 25, Days: 754

Let’s start the update with news from South Africa. At the start of the month, four Quarter Finals matches took place, with unsurprising results. Brazil found it rather easy to beat Serbia 2-0 in their match, and France the same over Slovakia. It was a little bit more difficult for Portugal, who had to work hard to earn a 1-0 win over Belgium, but they did it and secured their Semifinal place. Thanks to Wayne Rooney’s goal in the 39th minute, England triumphed over a strong Spain showing and made it into the last four, where they would face Brazil, with France playing European counterparts Portugal.

Now some more news on Super Lampard’s cup run. As we know, the Englishman thrashed Banants 9-0 in the First Qualifying Round as his Lecce team entered the Europa League through the Fair Play League system. This month, Irish team Bohemians were beaten 6-0 on aggregate in the Second Qualifying Round. The team then travelled to Croatia where they kept a clean sheet, securing a 1-0 win in the first leg of their tie against Slaven Belupo. Slotting three goals past the Croats in the return leg meant a 4-0 aggregate victory and a slot in the Fourth Qualifying Round. The only other Third Qualifying Round match of interest was Tyler Burrows’s Udinese achieving two 4-0 victories over Icelandic team FH in their match, although Zaragoza and Portsmouth also progressed with 7-0 aggregate victories.

The Spanish League has reset, and Celta, Tenerife and Almería join the big boys in La Liga for the 2010-11 season. Surprisingly, Celta aren’t predicted to get relegated, with Almería believed to be the team that will finish bottom and Tenerife finishing 18th. Jellybean Man’s Numanica are the pundits’ pick to fill that last relegation spot. At the top, it’s no surprise that Lucas Volman’s Real Madrid are the team tipped to win the title.

Liam Ferguson’s Manchester City have made the biggest transfer in England, but funnily enough it’s an outgoing one. Nigel de Jong joins Clark Aitken’s Roma for £19.5M. Cross-town rivals Manchester United also made a sale, with Tottenham manager Leo Dodge buying Darren Fletcher for a meaty £14.75M. Dimitar Berbatov also went: £11.25M to Real Madrid, as did Manucho for £3.3M to América (MEX). Maurice Jobson’s biggest signing in terms of replacements was only a £5M deal on Owen Garvan from recently-relegated Ipswich. As well as Juande Ramos’s Portmsouth, who made a number of signings, Mark Cator’s Aston Villa were a busy team, signing for £10.5M Tomas Rosicky from Sunderland, and for £10M Pape Diakhate from Dynamo Kiev.

France encountered little difficulty in destroying Portugal 3-0 in their World Cup Semifinal collision. One goal from William Gallas and two from Thierry Henry, without any from hands, put the Iberians to shame and left them looking for consolation in the Third Placed Playoff. France, meanwhile, reached their second consecutive World Cup final. In the other match, between Brazil and England, the two teams fought it out very closely, with Frank Lampard’s first-half stoppage time penalty nullifying Robinho’s 18th minute opener. The match drew on to extra time and finished level, so penalties would decide whether England could reach their first World Cup final for 44 years. In the end, it wasn’t to be, with Brazil scoring all five penalties and David Bentley’s miss consigned England to defeat 3-5 having only taken four of the spot kicks.

As well as splashing the cash on Nigel de Jong, Clark Aitken also opened the chequebook to sign Keirrison for £18.75M from Palmeiras. Giampaolo Pazzini joined Roma for £12M from Sampdoria, as did Cheik M’Bengué for £9.5M from Toulouse and Craig Gordon for £5M from Sunderland. The sales of Goran Pandev to Ben Taylor’s Fiorentina for £11.5M and Ahmed Barusso for £3.2M to Brescia brought some money in, but by no means balanced the books. Ben Cee’s Inter were also busy bees, but they made what in my opinion will be the transfer of the season, bringing in World Cup Golden Boot winner Yannick Djaló from Sporting CP for £18.25M, and Lorik Cana from Marseille for £13.25M. Will de Mote’s A.C. Milan made a pretty penny in selling Bosco Jankovic to Portsmouth for £11.75M. Roma’s spending spree hasn’t paid off so far, as they lost their first friendly to the Japanese Higashiosaka Rosa 1-3, although it was in Japan which may have tired the team out. In comparison, their match in Portugal’s 8th-biggest city against Vitória Setúbal resulted in a 2-0 win for the Italians.

Tom Smith’s Arsenal have now completed their pre-season campaign, although they experienced two blips in Italy. AA Gent were beaten 2-0, Barnet were beaten 4-0 and BEC of Thailand were beaten 5-0, but surrounding a 4-1 victory over Pisa in an Italian tour came a 1-1 draw to James Ridley’s Siena and a 1-2 defeat to Lisa Jeffries’s Juventus. Juventus also beat Germans Bielefeld 4-0 in their other friendly match. A team with a much more successful pre-season record than Arsenal are Aston Villa. Mark Cator’s team obviously meant business with their two significant signings and, although the opposition wasn’t top quality, they got business with away wins over Reading, Watford, Charlton, Notts County and Cardiff. Newly-promoted Arnold J. Rimmer’s Bolton too maintain a 100% winning record against some good teams, including a credible 2-0 victory over Wuhan following a 9000km flight to China. Although a rather shorter distance team in Livingston were only beaten 1-0, there was an impressive 3-0 win over Wolfsburg, a 4-0 one over Nancy-Lorraine and a 4-1 one over Fiorentina. This was coupled with a small offload of players, although cash has yet to change hands.

The Big Two have been leaps and bounds ahead of the others in Spain in terms of how much they are willing to spend this summer. Haowan Madridstas’s Barcelona spend £74.8M on their top five transfers. Juan Manuel Mata joined from Lawrence Lazewksi’s Valencia for £25M, Diego for £17.25M from Europa league runners-up Werder Bremen, Marquinhos for £16.5M from Palmeiras, Benedikt Höwedes from Schalke for £14.25M, and Deco from Andre da Conceiçao’s Chelsea for £1.8M. Still, their rivals Real Madrid weren’t being too prudent either, spending £60.3M on their top five purchases. Hernanes came for £20M from São Paulo, Mamadou Sakho for £16.75M from PSG, Oleg Husyev for £11.75M from Dynamo Kiev, that Dimitar Berbatov signing for £11.25M and Stefano Sorrentino from AEK Athens for £525k. The biggest transfer not involving one of these two teams was of a measly £8.5M as Pavel Pogrebnyak left Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid to join Valencia. Lars Tommersen’s Villarreal were a busy team this month, spending £10M buying Simon Kfjær from Inter and Mikey Twigge’s Palermo. £17M was spent on a further six players, while £6.5M was raised from the sales of Matías Fernández to Bayern Munich, Sebastián Viera to Almería and Felipe Manoel to Castilla. River Plate and AlbinoLeffe were beaten in Villarreal’s friendly games, and perhaps the new squad played a significant part in those victories.

Brazil would face France in the World Cup Final. Gilberto Silva put the South Americans ahead in the 14th minute from the spot, after Bacary Sagna’s foul. It took just seven minutes for Brazil to double their lead, doing so with Juan’s goal in the 21st minute. A further two minutes in and Robinho completed hell for France with a third goal, surely an unsurmountable lead?

The French team had a good go, though. Before the first half was out the margin was already closed by a goal, thanks to William Gallas’s 28th minute shot. Brazil seemed happy to play out the second half without looking particularly for the kill, but without playing all-out defensively. France doubled their goal-count just over 15 minutes from time with a goal from Yoann Gourcuff but they couldn’t find a third so Brazil won their sixth World Cup.

Almost 70,000 fans packed the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban for the Third Placed Playoff match. Fabio Capello’s England would face Portugal in an exciting tie, refereed by Zhang Hao, who went on to get a perfect rating for the match. It was goalless at half time. It was goalless at full time. What a shame, then, for Yannick Djaló to put the Portuguese ahead in the 93rd minute. But all was not lost. Nani’s trip on Michael Carrick in the 98th minute gave England a penalty, which…Gareth Barry? would take. He hit it to the goalkeeper’s right, but it bounced off the post. Disaster for England. However, who was there other than Peter Crouch, to tuck in the rebound for an equaliser. David Bentley’s long-range shot in the 110th minute put England into a glorious lead, and the match conluded without any more goals, and England ascended to 4th place in the World by finishing 3rd in the 2010 World Cup!

Manager of the UpdateIt is never easy to give this award in such a threadbare month, but;

Super Lampard, Lecce

wins it this month purely as one of only two managers to play competitive fixtures. His combined 10-0 scoreline over four matches is testament to how well Lampard is doing in the Europa League, if only in the early stages. Arnold J. Rimmer missed out despite his beautiful friendly performances, as did a number of other managers whose tinkering transfers imply some sort of master plan in the making. A word of warning for Super Lampard: last year, Wobill Luman got the July award, and subsequently got relegated.

Re: 60 to One

Originally Posted by super_lampard

Although could I point out that I am at Leece in this sign-up and Getafe was for the Apprentice

Sorry - I even double-checked the list to make sure I didn't put Getafe. It's been really annoying on a few occasions when I've had to differentiate in my mind managers in the two sign-ups, particularly as they both have an aspect in Spain. The worst is Greasy Chip Butty, as in one of them he is Andy Morton and in the other he is Andy McMorton.

Re: 60 to One

There won't be an update for a short while, I'm afraid. I've been mighty busy this weekend and for the whole of the next week I've a very important interview. With luck, however, I should be able to get an update for you on Sunday 13th December.

Re: 60 to One

Originally Posted by canvey!!

There won't be an update for a short while, I'm afraid. I've been mighty busy this weekend and for the whole of the next week I've a very important interview. With luck, however, I should be able to get an update for you on Sunday 13th December.

Good luck with it mate, whatever it may be.

Originally Posted by canvey!!

Sorry - I even double-checked the list to make sure I didn't put Getafe. It's been really annoying on a few occasions when I've had to differentiate in my mind managers in the two sign-ups, particularly as they both have an aspect in Spain. The worst is Greasy Chip Butty, as in one of them he is Andy Morton and in the other he is Andy McMorton.

Apologies - I actually thought of that the other week. I think my new handle for any sign-up from now on is going to be Chip Butty. Not that it helps you now.

Re: 60 to One

I'm back and with Christmas coming (as well as El Aprendiz: Tú eres Despedidos having finished), I will of course have more time to smother you all with updates!

Update 26Years: 2, Months: 26, Days: 785

The football season kicked off in earnest this month and the managers were up to facing their third year of football management. There have been no great waves of sackings yet, and in fact results so far have been pretty predictable, showing that the managers have now been integrated virtually as if they had the gleaming reputations of some of the better managers of this world. As August goes, as does summer and the transfer window, and it may well be a long and bitter autumn for those managers who didn’t buy wisely this year.

Indeed, the transfer scene is where we shall commence, with this month’s highest transfer costing a pretty penny or two. But Tyler Burrows doesn’t mind, as the £19.5M he received from his sale of Fabio Quagliarella to Clark Aitken’s Roma will fund his own transfer exploits for a while to come. The most he has made of his millions so far is the purchase of Andrés D’Alessandro from Brazilians Internacional, although David Suazo and John Arne Riise were also two results of his cash windfall, joining Udinese for a combined £5.4M. In other big transfers, Ben Cee’s Inter signed Rafael Sóbis from Lyon for £18.75M, and Simão joined Barcelona for £16.25M from Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid. Lord Weeman’s Napoli splashed the cash with two signings over £10M: a co-ownership for Catania’s Juan Forlin for £12.5M and a £10.25M deal taking Stéphane Mbia from Stade Rennais. But it looks to be working for the Englishman’s team, who are top of Serie A after the first game, having thrashed Cagliari away 3-1. However, they lost to Torino in the Italian Cup 3rd Qualifying Round, disappointing given that dafuge’s former side are in Serie B.

August is of course the Super Cup month, and in each country, two teams would battle it out for the novelty prize. On top of this, two Spanish teams would fight in Monaco for the UEFA Super Cup. In England, Tom Smith’s Arsenal decided they had had enough of being thrashed 3-0 in finals and so reversed that scoreline against Manchester United in the Community Shield. In Italy, Juventus were victorious over A.C. Milan, but only on penalties after a 2-2 draw, and in Spain, Lucas Volman’s Real Madrid seized the initiative after a 2-2 draw in Valencia, winning their home league to take the cup 5-3. Finally, in Monaco, Volman’s rivals Atlético Madrid lost out to Haowan Madridstas’s Barcelona, who claimed the UEFA Super Cup 3-2.

Liverpool lead the 2010-11 Premier League, tied on points with Leo Dodge’s Tottenham. The London team had a difficult start to the season, with two away games, sandwiched by a two-legged face-off in Europe. But Blackburn and Tim Aubel’s Fulham were seen off, the former 3-0, and Dodge was free to claim second place for the month with a nice and comfortable home tie against Brucie Bonus’s West Brom. The Baggies, on the other hand, had two home ties to start off their season, and they drew them both before that trip to White Hart Lane. Andre da Conceiçao’s Chelsea and Mark Cator’s Aston Villa complete the top four, with the Portuguese’s side claiming full points but for a 1-1 draw at Fratton Park, and Villa beating Arsenal and West Ham away, but bizarrely losing by the same scoreline, 1-2, at home to Sheffield Wednesday. Sunderland, Blackburn and West Ham are in the relegation zone, with Ricky Nakano’s Middlesbrough just above.

Of course it is early days, but I have to spin some kind of story, so there is dreadful news for Ben Taylor in Italy, as his Fiorentina team find themselves in 19th place, having lost 0-2 away to Cardio Vascular’s Genoa in their opening match. Vascular has had an excellent month, in fact, as he started the competitive season off with a 6-0 victory over Perugia in the Italian Cup. Other winners from the 3rd Qualifying Round were Mikey Twigge’s Palermo, who beat Bari, Super Lampard’s Lecce, who beat Mantova 3-1, and James Salter’s Reggina, who beat Verona 3-0. James Ridley’s Siena, in their new league, lost 0-1 away to fellow Serie B team Modena. He drew his first league game 2-2 with Treviso.

The Champions League is all set to get going with the Group Stages, after the Qualifying Rounds were completed this month. Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid beat Zenit St. Petersburg 3-2 on aggregate despite only drawing 1-1 in Spain, and Clark Aitken’s Roma fall into the Europa League after their aggregate loss to Ukrainians Shakhtar. Leverkusen, Sporting CP and Liverpool also progress, at the expense of Celtic, AZ Alkmaar and Toulouse. While we have the possibility of all remaining relevant sides progressing, the most interesting groups will see clashes between Lawrence Lazewski’s Valencia and Will de Mote’s A.C. Milan, alongside Salzburg and Dynamo Kiev, between Real Madrid and Liam Ferguson’s Man City, alongside Rangers and Benfice, and between Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan. Barcelona will be expected to walk Group F, but there is likely to be a pretty level playing field when Schalke, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Anderlecht compete for the second-place spot.

In Spain, Zaragoza lead after one game, with Andy Morton’s Sporting down in last place. The Englishman’s team found themselves mauled by ‘goza, with the result being 4-0 to the Zs. Phill Ewles’s Valladolid stuttered to a boring 0-0 draw against Almería, while Jellybean Man’s Numancia belie their predicted position of 19th as they are in 6th place, having beaten Cristobal Blanco’s Recreativo 2-1. Wobill Luman has had a mediocre start to his LIGA adelante career, drawing 1-1 with Hércules in the opener.

We’ll end the report with news from two cups then, with the first being the Europa League, which is a cup despite its name. The teams are awaiting the Group Stage draw, but this month the Fourth Qualifying Round added some big guns into the mix. Leo Dodge’s Tottenham put two short of a dozen past AGF of Denmark in their encounter, conceding one in the process for a 10-1 win, but this was bettered by Lars Tommersen’s Villarreal, who thrashed APOEL Nicosia 10-0, equalling Panathanaikos’ score against APOEL’s compatriots Omonia. However, even this was still bettered, by Joaquín Caparrós’s Sevilla who destroyed Dinamo Tirana 11-0. Super Lampard continued his superb run with two 3-0 wins over Banik Ostrava while Maurice Jobson’s Manchester United knocked out Iraklis, easing fans’ concerns after the Community Shield hiding and consecutive league losses to Portsmouth and rivals Manchester City. Tyler Burrows’s Udinese beat Modrica Maxima of Bosnia-Herzegovina 8-0, scoring four in each leg. For a bit of fun, here’s a look at the teams in the competition:

The second cup, to conclude the update, was the English League Cup. Brucie Bonus’s West Brom were felled at the edge of the forest with their Second Round loss to Sheffield United. Newcastle also lost, to Leyton Orient, while Bryan McGuinness’s Everton showed tenacity in winning 2-0 at Carlisle. Ricky Nakano and Martin Bojangles were two other Premier League managers who found their teams upset, while Tim Aubel’s Fulham beat Peterborough 2-0 away, and Mark Cator’s Aston Villa beat Plymouth 4-0 at home. The next round sees a London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham, as well as Manchester United playing Everton. Reading and Fulham will face off in another local match and Man City will travel to Fratton Park. Nottingham Forest, Doncaster and Leyton Orient look to have their runs terminated with matches against Premier League teams, while Blackpool and Scunthorpe have slightly less slim chances of perpetuating a League 1 interest: they have Championship teams away from home.

These gritty cup battles can be exciting sometimes. Next month will bring them!

Manager of the UpdateThe accolade this month goes to;

Leo Dodge, Tottenham

for being virtually top of the table and for achieving double figures against AGF. Hopefully next month will be as good for Dodge, because he faces Liverpool and Manchester City in the league and Chelsea in the Carling Cup. Lars Tommersen was another favourite for the award as he also reached double figures, as were Lucas Volman, Tom Smith and Haowan Madridstas, who all seized trophies. So too did Juventus, but in the end Dodge’s accumulated performance wins it for him.

Re: 60 to One

Re: 60 to One

Update 27Years: 2, Months: 27, Days: 815

Sweet September beckoned, and past with minimal fuss. October approaches, but first September’s footballing tales must be related. Without further ado, let’s start by examining the action in the Champions League Group Stage, where each team has already played two games. Andre da Conceiçao’s Chelsea lead Group B on six points, alongside PSV Eindhoven, after the Londoners beat Norwegian’s Rosenborg 4-0 at Stamford Bridge and won 2-1 in Russia against CSKA Moscow. The encounter between Lawrence Lazewski’s Valencia and A.C. Milan in Group C resulted in a 1-1 draw, and those two teams lead the group on four points, with Salzburg of Austria just behind on three. In Group D, Liam Ferguson’s Manchester City maintain a perfect record after a classic 4-3 victory at the Bernabéu, and Benfica are in second place with 2 points after having drawn with Real Madrid and Rangers. Arsenal top Group F and are alongside Sporting Lisbon in having 6 points while Lokomotiv Moscow and Dinamo Bucharest have none. Group F is closer, with Liverpool top but Lisa Jeffries’s Juventus only three points behind, with Leverkusen also on three points. Ben Cee’s Inter lead Group G with 6 points, while Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid are struggling and are behind Bordeaux with just a point. Finally, in Group H, Barcelona top with Maccabi Tel Aviv floundering fourth without yet having played the Spanish giants.

Leo Dodge’s Tottenham did indeed keep up that fine record from last month and did not lose in the league this month. They managed a difficult 2-2 draw at home to their main rivals at present Liverpool, but then achieved a win at the City of Manchester Stadium, leaving Bristol City to be beaten at the end of the month. They also beat Braga and Roda JC in the Europa League but their luck didn’t stretch to the Carling Cup where the White Hart Lane crowd couldn’t elicit a win against Chelsea. Liverpool of course are second, but Martin Bojangles’s Hull are around for a surprising third place. The English manager, who lists Jimmy Bullard among his favoured personell, won 2-0 at Villa Park and accrued another four points this month. Man City, Newcastle and Bryan McGuinness’s Everton follow closely behind, each with 10 points, with the latter putting three past Bolton and Sheffield Wednesday this month but crashing 0-4 at the Emirates.

Tyler Burrows’s tinkering at Udinese seems to be working some magic in Italy. The Andorran’s team top Serie A, and this month secured four victories without conceding a goal, to add to their sneaky 1-0 win over A.C. Milan last month. Mikey Twigge’s Palermo were the biggest victims, as Udinese put three past them, but Catania, Cagliari and bermybhoy’s Atalanta were also on the receiving end. To add to this, Udinese beat Aris (Poor Ronald Garcia) in the Europa League while drawing in Copenhagen. Clark Aitken’s Roma do pursue them at the top but are four points behind so soon into the campaign as they accumulated three 1-0 wins this month, drawing with Inter and beating Croatians Rijeka 6-1 in the Europa League in the process. They also thrashed AEK Athens 3-0 in Greece. Atalanta and Palermo conclude the top four, while Super Lampard’s team’s league form seems to be suffering from European action as despite beating Steaua Bucharest 3-0, they have only picked up one domestic point, from an away draw with Rimini. Theo Stigarakis’s Catania are also in the drop zone, their three points from having beaten Lecce last month, so all losses this month, including in the cup. James Ridley’s Siena continue to struggle in Serie B and their manager is Insecure, they looked to still not have won this season but for a narrow 3-2 victory away to Triestina.

Wobill Luman’s woes went from bad to worse in Spain as they saw themselves knocked out of the Spanish Cup in the Second Round by Real Sociedad and are struggling in 12th place in the second tier of Spanish football. Luman himself is currently Insecure. Zaragoza still top La Liga and have yet to lose after five games, while Cristobal Blanco’s Recreativo are dangerously in 17th place. The Peruvian’s team failed to win this month and picked up just two points, which reflects their season so far. Above them on three points are Andy Morton’s Sporting and Neji Hyuuga’s Deportivo and on four points Joe Gleeson’s Espanyol, all of whom won once this month, Sporting over Celta, Deportivo over Getafe and Espanyol over Numancia. Cool Manager’s Atlético Madrid, like Zaragoza, have yet to lose and occupy second place. This month they beat Celta, Numancia, Sevilla and Tenerife. Villarreal are in third place but lost to Maz Armley’s Racing, and Getafe and Real Madrid have 12 points just like Villarreal.

Tim Aubel’s Fulham, despite being 17th in the league, had the easiest passage in the English League Cup Third Round, beating Reading 5-1. Arnold J. Rimmer’s Bolton, who are in 8th place after having beaten both Chelsea and Arsenal 3-2, got knocked out by Sheffield Wednesday and Maurice Jobson’s Manchester United picked up some form to thrash Everton 3-1. Having just lost to Wednesday in the league, they needed this extra-time victory for a morale boost, and it enabled them to trounce Tom Smith’s Arsenal in the next match, the Gunners having also taken extra time to beat Nottingham Forest 4-1. Portsmouth knocked out Manchester City while both West Ham and Aston Villa recorded 3-0 victories. The match of the Fourth Round is Sheffield Wednesday versus Arsenal. The Owls are 14th in the league but have not been without some nice upsets in their season so far.

In the Europa League, Clark Aitken’s Roma join Villarreal and Tottenham in being a relevant team with a 100% win record. AZ Alkmaar, HSV, Zenit Saint Petersburg, Spartak Moscow and Porto also have yet to lose. bermybhoy's Atalanta is our only side to not sit in the first or second position in their group, being joint on points with Lille but behind on goal difference. They beat the French team 2-0 but lost 0-3 to HSV. This turbulent lack of consistency is mirrored in the league, where they lost to Udinese and then beat Sampdoria. They also beat Lecce, but drew to Napoli. As for their fellow teams in Serie A, Fiorentina have picked themselves up and are 11th, just behind Jonte Rhodes’s Lazio, who lost to A.C. Milan but beat Catania and Cagliari this month. Cardio Vascular’s Genoa are in 8th, beating Brescia but losing to Roma and Inter this month. They also found themselves out of the Italian Cup, although Lazio progressed over Modena. Palermo beat Cagliari and James Salter’s Reggina beat Pescara. The tie of the First Round is Roma against Lecce, as we see if Lecce can continue their cup luck against a mighty team, although you could also look to Udinese versus Reggina for goals. Reggina have had some tidy form but Udinese look set to win that match in style, perhaps three-nil. Ascoli and Padova represent Serie B, and with matches against Inter and Juventus respectively, there’ll be goals there too.

Manager of the UpdateThis month I’ll give the award to;

Tyler Burrows, Udinese

for ascending to the top of the Italian pile. Clark Aitken was his rival in Italy for the merit, while Leo Dodge was also under consideration for escaping a tough month without need for embarrassment. Cool Manager, Lars Tommersen and Haowan Madridstas also had good months (although the latter two’s weren’t significant enough to get a mention).